Day 43: Sun Room, 4th Shift

[euphemise]

The late-afternoon sun filled the large, open Sun Room. It was almost enough to make you sleepy, Euphemia thought, as she walked in, brushing a little glitter off her shirt. She didn't particularly feel like she was up to much - the worrying about everyone had drained her, as much as she'd tried not to think too much about it

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[violent_varmint]

Canned, monotone smugness resounded over the intercom, and Tanaka knew that ZEX would soon be returning from his "visitor". Who would they use for leverage against him, anyway? Probably some past lover, given the VUX's blatant innuendos towards anyone he could get his tentacles on. Especially the Captain... who did he think he was, anyway, trying to seduce a hero of the entire quadrant who was already engaged...

The Shofixti put that thought aside. It would do him no good anymore to let his anger rise against the VUX... the Captain was dead, he reminded himself, and his last wishes were for ZEX to be happy and for them to return to their world. Which mean that they'd have to work together for now, Winged Ones help him.

After a brief trip past the bulletin board, Tanaka sat down on a couch near the main doors of the Sun Room. Wherever ZEX was going next, he'd have to pass through there, which meant he'd be able to catch him and have that talk on what to do next.

[for Admiral Emo]

[wantsyourzex]

ZEX was already feeling drained and tired after seeing DAX again and he'd almost forgotten that he'd arranged to meet with the Shofixti later that day. He couldn't say he was exactly looking forward to it, given the circumstances, and his last conversation with him had not gone well either. Although, if the Shofixti wanted to exchange insults for the rest of the shift, then that might be a welcome distraction from his circling thoughts. He wasn't sure it was possible to think about something else with how he was dwelling on his Captain, but there had to be something. There had to be a way to make this feeling stop, he was sure of it.

Either way, ZEX couldn't muster up the energy to be that concerned about what Tanaka wanted with him, or to look too hard for him. It was surprisingly hard to care about... anything right now. He walked into the Sun Room slowly, feeling heavy and tired. Find some place to sit, maybe... think about where to go from there...

(third time's the charm)

[violent_varmint]

Sure enough, there was ZEX... looking like he'd been hit by a train. He wasn't entirely surprised - ZEX hadn't been doing well even before being taken away to the visiting rooms - but he still hadn't expected total disintegration. Tanaka grunted, got up from the sofa, and quickly went over to the VUX, putting his arm on ZEX's shoulders and attempting to nudge him over to the couch. "Come on," he said quietly, making a face at like he was swallowing an unusually foul medicine at no-one in particular, "you should sit down. You look terrible."

[wantsyourzex]

ZEX was lost in his own thoughts, which was easier to do now than it had even been before, and he didn't notice someone approaching him until they touched him. Even then, he just blinked slowly and turned to see who it was. The Shofixti, of course. That made sense.

"Do I?" ZEX raised a hand to brush some of his hair from his face. "It's hard to tell..." He couldn't see himself, after all. But he was definitely more than willing to sit down for a while.

Once there, vaguely he noted that Tanaka had touched him voluntarily which was unusual, and was showing what could be concern for him which was also unusual, but they were quirks in behavior that barely registered for him now. He rubbed at his eyes, which felt swollen and sore.

"You wanted to speak to me." That should have been a question, but he couldn't quite give it the energy it needed to be one. Well, it didn't matter.

[violent_varmint]

"Like you were run over by an angry herd animal," Tanaka replied. ZEX had barely even noticed him until the Shofixti's arm was on his shoulder, and Tanaka was beginning to wonder just what they'd done to put the Admiral in an even worse state than he was in this morning. As he guided him to the couch, he found himself praying that the VUX would be able to talk strategy in this state, that he wouldn't end up having to comfort the slimewad just to get him functional again.

"Yes," Tanaka said, once they were finally seated. "We need to make plans, Admiral. We know where the bastards behind this place are hiding their real labs, and we know the kinds of technology they have there. We just need to figure out how to get in, and to be frank you know more people who might be able to blow open those doors than I do." His wincing expression had faded by this point - he just looked serious, and slightly annoyed - but his eyes were on ZEX the whole time, waiting to see how he'd react - and what would be necessary to get him back on track.

[wantsyourzex]

"Mmm..." ZEX rubbed at his forehead. His head hurt, not that that was unusual for him by any means. It might be easier if he kept his eyes closed. "I'm not feeling my best." Human bodies revealed more than he thought... would it have been as obvious if he had his VUX body

three *days* what's wrong with me

[violent_varmint]

Thankfully, it seemed ZEX was beginning to snap out of his self-indulgent depression, and Tanaka gave the VUX his full attention as he began to recall what he'd done towards their goal so far. At least one good thing came out of his constant philandering: he seemed to make a lot of friends, and if one of them knew how to make an explosive charge, and had left him a list of what they needed, all the better... especially if they'd end up with something more powerful than black glory for their troubles, which, if a list was necessary, was probably the case. After all, even if the powder was effective against people, it might not be enough against the kinds of alloys some of the other races used - and Tanaka suspected Landel would be securing his labs with the strongest stuff he could find - and even if it was he wouldn't feel quite right using black glory for something that wasn't at least a little suicidal

[wantsyourzex]

ZEX jerked a bit at his sudden laugh. He hadn't quite expected that, even if he'd made the comment in semi-jest. Although the Shofixti did raise a good point; he probably wouldn't be here otherwise. Although, come to think of it, it was a bit odd that he was here at all, considering what he'd heard about the Shofixti during the War. Hadn't they all killed themselves in some huge fiery explosion? The Ur-Quan had not been happy about that, if he remembered right

[violent_varmint]

Tanaka followed the Admiral's eyes down to the paper in his lap, and, as it dawned on him whose handwriting he was looking at, it also occured to him how strange their conversation was. They were surely both thinking of Zelnick, fixated, even - ZEX on his loss, Tanaka on his last words - and yet neither of them were talking about him. Maybe it was just the easiest way to cope. Tanaka wasn't sure; he'd stopped thinking about how he dealt with loss years ago, or he'd never have endured his vigil between the wars as long as he had.

"You may be right, Admiral," Tanaka replied when the VUX finally spoke again. "There is no need to repost it now - we can review it before setting off on tonight's mission." The Shofixti didn't mind the extra hands, either; more people in the group may make it move more slowly, but it also meant less chance of trouble when the next inevitable freakish science experiment came along. "What room are you being held in, so that I can find you when the doors unlock?"

[wantsyourzex]

ZEX wasn't in much of a state to pay attention to whether Tanaka knew what he was looking at or not, and it didn't really matter either way. It was so hard to focus on the conversation at hand rather than his memories from last night. It was so easy to picture him lying there, hear his voice...

"Yes... I have some of the materials required, but not all of them." Thankfully he'd had some assistance in getting some of the chemicals, although there were still a good amount of them that needed to be found. They had to be here somewhere, right? It probably wouldn't matter in the end, but it was at least something to do. "I'm in room M66." A moment, and he thought he should at least try to think outside himself. "What room are you in?" It might be useful to know.